Hey Everyone!
Today I had the opportunity to observe Ashley’s primary lesson, which was super valuable! I was really impressed by her approach to primary students because she ensured that she covered all aspects of language learning at the same time. Her and her student worked through a series of words that she had for homework, but Ashley would ask different questions to check the students understanding. This included asking the student to read the word aloud, asking what the word means, asking them to put it in a sentence, and then covering the word and asking them to spell it. I believe this to be an effective method with primary school kids to work on multiple different aspects of English at the same time rather than just on spelling, reading or comprehension at one time. This gives them an understanding of the word in its context and provides variation in the lesson to keep them engaged.
When the student had difficulty spelling a word, she would help the student to break it down into sounds and ask what letters make each sound. This prompts the student to think about the structure of the word and work on learning how sounds combine. After the student had figured it out, she also gave examples of other words that follow a similar spelling rule. This was helpful for the student to further learn the patterns of sound.
One major challenge with primary students is keeping them engaged for the full hour. Ashley maintained the focus of her student by allowing for small ‘chat breaks’ throughout the session and then quickly bringing it back to the task at hand. She also allowed the student to relate the words that they were working on to things that she was interested in or could relate to.
This was a really interesting lesson to observe and am looking forward to integrating what I have learnt into my own sessions!!
Riva Burkett
